….sooo let’s talk about alignment…vamos falar de alinhamento….

.Root to rise…That was the first sentence that got stuck into my mind on my first teacher training course day…I heard it and it got stuck on me…Until that moment I have always felt like I was more like a go, learn it, do it, improve and move on person. Do you know why? Because rooting down always sounded more like a waste of time and BORING…YEAP! Super boring, because it demands a lot from you. Demands your high qualities and also it requires you to work with your worst skills or if you prefer the ones you are trying to improve ….

…Creating roots for me it means like going deeper…Going beyond that surface that is easy to deal with..That is why I feel like I have always tried to avoid it when possible. So when the teacher started asking us to check our roots on the mats, taking a closer attention to the feet and how they were from how they were supposed to be aligned, big changes happened in me.

Your base, your foundation are the ones which keep you stable and strong wherever you go. On the mat as well. So as I was told to start working on my feet alignment something I have never worked before. And it really changed the way I get into the asana, the way I practice yoga and now the way I teach yoga.

I get stronger and I feel stronger when building the asana in a more conscious way. And from that day on I have been keeping a careful eye on the asana alignments. That’s why I am bringing to you a series of asanas alignments from now on.

The first one is Adho Mukha. It is a key asana in the yoga practice specially if you do Vinyasa Flow. It is used in a lot of flows.

Let’s start with the feet:

Keep an eye on your feet arches:

Keep them on neutral position….My feet tend to go more in than out like supination…Soooo I work hard to keep them neutral..And it has been working..

Your feet should be hip distance apart aligned with your pelvis. Whether your heels touch or not the floor, imagine that roots are growing through your heels down through the Earth.

Hands : they should be shoulder-width apart and spread on the mat. Some teachers tell students to keep middle finger parallel on the mat. Others ask students to keep index finger parallel.Try both and see what fits best for you. Ground your inner and outer palm. Feel the base of your fingers.

Hips : press hands on the floor and stretch your hips back from the top of your thighs . Try to shift your weight back into your hips. Your weight will be centered in your pelvis and you feel your arms light. Inner rotate your thighs. Hold a block between your thighs if necessary to understand how you should rotate them internally .

Shoulders : broaden your shoulders. Try this movement to see how your shoulders should be externaly rotated: once in Down Dog, bend your elbows to the side in a diamond shape. Now rotate your elbows under and straitghten your arms maintaing your internal rotation from your elbow to your inner wrist.